Usually, systemboard will have a maximum. Most modern computers are 2-4G or more. For trading 512MB - 1GB is usually enough.
Just go to the site below, scroll about 1/3 of the way down and click on the "Scan my System" link on the right. Follow the directions and that will tell you how much RAM you have and how much your computer will take- http://www.crucial.com/index.asp Don-
thanks for the site. I was just wondering how much ramm was actually used efficiently. A friend told me that although you can install lots of ramm on some computers (sometimes up to 8 gb), most computers can only use around 2 gb....anyone ever heard this before?
RAM intensive apps like a photo editor will probably use all you have. Otherwise, you can check your Task Manager and see how much you're using at full load. Excessive amounts of RAM are simply not used.... and by some accounts, actually slow your computer down a bit.
I just bought a pentium D and I have 512mb. I only use at max about 250mb of the memory during a regular day.
No, a pentium D is actually way more computing power than I need. My old computer needed an upgrade and I figured I might as well get the most powerful cpu I could. Only cost me $850 from dell.
No amount of RAM will slow a system down, however, there is the laws of diminishing returns. I find it difficult to believe that most traders would require more than 1GB, but I would say that the entire trader spectrum can be covered between 512MB-2GB range. 32-bit processors can only use 4GB max, and the new 64-bit processors can use far more, like 128GB or something...
2^64=18,446,744,073,709,551,616 addressable bytes, which is either ~18,446,744,074GB or exactly 18,014,398,509,481,984GB (depending on whether you're old school with 1024 as a K or new school with 1000) as a theorectical limit to the 64 bit CPUs. Either way, that should solve memory problems for the rest of our lives. I mean, how much porno do you need to keep in RAM? 18 billion gig, wow. That's like having what, three gig for everybody on the planet? Unless you are doing some very serious stuff (in which case you wouldn't be asking a question like this) a gig'll do ya just fine. BTW: Kilo: 10^3 Mega: 10^6 Giga: 10^9 Tera: 10^12 Peta: 10^15 Exa: 10^18 (we're talking 18 exabytes of RAM) Zetta: 10^21 Yotta: 10^24